Page 22 of Savage Little Lies

I watch her turn and walk toward the double doors, tension building up in my throat as I struggle with what to say. “Cara?”

She pauses with her hands on the doorknob. She looks over her shoulder at me, a strand of hair resting over her eye.

I wish I were close enough to brush it away. To feel how soft her skin is under my fingertips. To hear her breath hitch as I come close.

“I’m glad you came,” I tell her, speaking words that I probably shouldn’t.

Cara looks stunned at first, but then she smiles at me and tucks her hair behind her ear herself. Now, I can see all of her beauty unobstructed. “Goodnight, Mr. Ivanov.”

“Dmitri,” I reply. We’re around each other enough for her to call me by my first name.

“Dmitri,” Cara repeats, her smile growing. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Cara,” I say.

Her expression wavers a little, but I can’t figure out why. She turns and walks out of my office, pulling the doors shut behind her.

Silence fills the room as I stare at the spot that she was just in, feeling a tugging sensation deep in my chest. Part of me wishes that she hadn’t left. She’s much better company than Annika.

I pour another glass of vodka and down half of it, letting the liquor sear its way down my throat and burn through me. I want to see more of Cara, even if that’s a bad idea. Just being around her at work doesn’t feel like it’s enough.

An idea forms in my mind, and I don’t know if it’s actually genius or if the vodka is making it seem like it is. Regardless, I think I’ve figured out a way to make my torturous obligations a little less brutal.

Cara’s purpose is to make my life easier. I just have to make sure that she doesn’t make my life more complicated.

Things are hectic enough, but I know that the relationship we have is straying from simple and professional. We’re heading toward a place that we shouldn’t. But she’s an alluring beam of light while Annika is a storm of darkness and misery.

Annika will bleed me dry if I let her.

With Cara, I don’t feel used.

Especially not tonight.

9

Cara

I hadn’t planned on going back to the office last night.

I went home and tried to relax, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Dmitri and how upset he was. I wanted to know what the problem was, and I saw an opportunity to get on his good side.

It was the right move.

Something unexpected happened when he was opening up to me about his arranged marriage. There was a moment when I felt sorry for him. I thought he was unfazed and emotionless about the whole arrangement because he agreed to it for business reasons, but that wasn’t the case.

He seemed genuinely miserable, and I imagined myself in his position and felt a little sympathetic toward him. No one should be trapped in an arranged marriage, especially with someone they don’t even like. What if they fall in love with someone else?

Are they supposed to let the love of their life go and be stuck in misery forever because of business or whatever reason?

I really hope my father doesn’t do the same to me. I don’t think I could go through with that, but I don’t think that he would care if he got a good enough deal out of it.

“Cara, let’s go to lunch. There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

I nearly flinch out of my chair when Dmitri bursts into his office. “Lunch? Together?”

He approaches me and nods. “Come on.”

I have questions, but I don’t ask any of them. Instead, I put my laptop to sleep and follow him out of the office. A slight stir of nervousness fills my stomach as I glance at his face, trying to read his expression.